Employer branding is a critical element of recruitment that can have a significant impact on your company and its workforce. Employer branding is often overlooked, but it is important for all organizations to hire the best people, as well as retain the ones already working for you. It can help you project your company as a desirable place to work for, making it the organization of choice for top candidates.
What Is Employer Branding?
Employer branding essentially enables companies to showcase their unique attributes to attract new talent and clients through multi-digital channels. These attributes include the company’s vision, mission, values, work environment, and culture. These are intrinsically linked to the company’s branding to create a complete picture of what the organization represents. A creative and robust employer brand can be invaluable in bringing in quality hires and improving the performance of the company.
Why Is Employer Branding Important In Recruitment?
Employer Branding Consolidates Your Brand Identity
Today’s candidates have a veritable cornucopia of choices when it comes to opting for a position. It’s vital to clearly outline and convey your unique brand value, so you’re assured of getting the best people.
Top professionals will always choose organizations that have a solid brand image. For them, apart from salary and your business performance, what’s equally important are intangibles like vision, values, work environment, etc. According to research, 78% of people will check out a company’s reputation before applying for a job.
In today’s tech-savvy world, it’s essential to establish and maintain your presence online, because your future employees are sure to be checking out your website and social media accounts before applying. They are also likely to review what your current employees have to say about your company. So ensure that you have a strong brand presence online to increase your brand awareness, which will be beneficial for your organization in the long run.
Employer Branding Helps in Better Talent Acquisition
The main driving force behind the whole concept of creating a robust employer brand is to essentially build your talent brand. It’s simple – having a great employer brand will help a company attract, employ, and retain the best talent.
A company is only as great as its people, and talented people want to be associated with top brands. A CareerBuilder survey states that 67% of candidates would accept a lower salary if the company they were interested in had very positive reviews online. Instead of spending a lot of time and money marketing job positions and reaching out to people, with a reputed brand you can sit back and watch the applications pour in.
Build up your employer brand on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. and let candidates get a closer look at your company, as 79% of job seekers are likely to use social media in the search for their next job. When your company has a solid reputation and a unique work culture, you’ll have no problem attracting the best candidates.
Employer Branding Ensures Lesser Employee Turnover
Replacing an employee can cost a business valuable time and money, so retaining good employees is critical. Having a solid employer brand has a notable impact on employee retention rates.
Organizations that work on improving their employer brand have happier employees, resulting in higher employee engagement and less turnover. A positive working environment, healthy company culture, and opportunities for growth are all major sources of motivation for your current employees, and should be reflected in your employer brand.
Employees who work in strong brands are generally more invested, motivated and enthusiastic. When people feel secure in their jobs, as they do with a top brand, it leads to higher productivity, faster growth and more revenue. The low turnover creates a solid foundation on which an organization can attract and retain better candidates for new roles.
Your Employees Become Your Ambassadors
Strong employer branding energizes current and potential employees. If your employees are happy, they will become ambassadors for the organization. Good employee referrals are more likely to come in, saving the company on recruiting time and costs.
Over 50% of job seekers rely on employee reviews. So, when your star employees share their own positive work experiences on their social networks, it will contribute significantly to your company’s recruitment strategies. Additionally, when your present employees talk up the business, it strengthens your employer brand without spending much on marketing since awareness increases by word of mouth.
Turn your employees into brand advocates by encouraging them to share their company experiences. They can talk about their recruiting and onboarding experiences, their growth in the organization, awards and achievements, and company news. When they tweet, post, and pin their personal and organizational accomplishments, your employer brand power will automatically grow, attracting potential clients and candidates.
Reduce Recruitment Costs
With the recruitment market becomingly increasingly competitive, sourcing and retaining the right talent has become a costly affair. Advertising open positions on different job portals, collaborating with recruitment agencies, finding new recruits, etc. comes with a cost.
Creating a solid employer brand can save your company money in recruiting expenses. According to a survey by LinkedIn, organizations that have a stronger employer brand compared to their competitors see an approximate decrease of 43% in the cost per candidate they hire.
With a strong employer brand, you don’t need to spend as much on advertising and marketing to create awareness for your company. Working for a well-branded, reputed organization is an important factor for most job seekers, and if you project your company as such, you can be assured of attracting top talent. Candidates will find you themselves and apply for positions without your having to source them. Moreover, research shows that several candidates are open to accepting a lower salary if they get an position in a company with positive reviews and a well-established brand.
The past few years have seen considerable disruption to talent acquisition. Companies need to make recruiting a priority if they want to succeed, and employer branding is an important part of that. A good employer brand creates motivation, inspiration, and excitement in potential candidates, and is well worth the investment.
If you need the best technology talent, Employvision is here to help. Employvision is one of the top IT recruitment agencies in USA with over 15 years of proven track record in recruiting top technology talent. Contact us and start hiring great talent today!